Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 3)

We spent a weekend at those time-shares earlier this year.  Nice and peaceful location, they have a salt water pool and hot tub that were great.  It's a pretty easy drive to Coeur d'Alene, no traffic to worry about and it's all on hiway and freeway - you just have to plan on it taking almost an hour.

Hope is further away and you have quite a bit of traffic and stop lights to get through as you head north out of Coeur d'Alene - I think that drive would be more like an hour and a half.

Thanks again for the feedback on local.  Maybe I'll stay there till saturday and then move to a closer hotel on saturday so the family can see the race. 

My guess for sell out is Late September.

I'm really surprised that it hasn't sold out yet.... its been nearly 2 months.

My heel fracture is healed, at least according to my doctor.  I'm not convinced, but I'm a bit scared and I'm not trusting that its finally healed after 3 months of it being broken.  In reality, not much will change.  I'm still forbidden from walking more than "a typical trip to the grocery store" for the next month.  I can swim (and kick... I've been only allowed to pull) and cycling has always been ok.  PT starts next week.  I was going to try for a HIM in November, but the doctor said that was a bad idea.  So, it seems like 2012 will be tri-free. :/  I'm also going to start up with my coach again in October so I can build up my base and muscles.  My poor left leg is atrophied and it looks pathetic.

I'll be right there with ya buddy, 2014 is my year too! I will be following this thread closely to get info about lodging and such. I wish you all the best. Is the reason it hasnt sold out yet because of Tahoe or does it usually not sell out the first day its open?

Lake Tahoe may have pulled some away though, so it might be similar to past years.

Hello Everyone.

I am thinking about doing this race next year. This will be my 2nd. My first was IM NYC a little over 2 weeks ago and it was crazy!

I am trying to work oiut the vacation time and I am also wondering about the water temps. My doc tells me the water is so cold that a lot of athletes fail to finish because of that?

KC

The water is cold!  I can't remember exactly but they say the water is right around 60, more like mid 50's in reality.  I watched numerous people not make it out of the warming tent in T1 this year, 56 people got pulled out of the water.  Also, they don't allow you to get in before the race, although there were some that did it anyways.

The water was very cold and choppy - 57* this year.  Even people that made it out of the water and onto the bike were complaining about how much it affected the rest of their day.

2013 will be my first time, but from the comments I've heard, most seem to prefer the old course.  There is a discussion of old vs. new on this Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/IronmanCoeurdAlene

I got in the water Thursday,Friday, and Saturday and was worried.... no worries on race day it felt much better probably from everyone peeing in the water.

Most folks who got pulled from the water this year was likely due to a freak wind storm that really churned the lake up on the second loop.

The bike course was hard the second loop and climbing was rough...that said I'll be back in 2014 as I thought it was the greatest race in the world.

I did IMCdA a couple of months ago.  It was my second IM.  I totally recommend it; in fact, I recommend it as highly as I recommend any race I've ever done in my 20 years as an endurance athlete.  The fans were fantastic and the finish line was brilliant.    

Cold water in the swim?  Yes, but you'll be fine.  I spent several months worrying about the cold water in the swim, and it was only a small deal.  In fact, after I did a practice swim on the Thursday before the race, I felt kinda silly for having worried so much about the cold water.  It affected me, certainly, but it's not going to ruin your day.  The swim was very physical for me as an MOP swimmer, and that was much more disconcerting.  Physical swims are a part of any tri, though.  

The bike course was great.  Yes, the bulk of it is two out-and-back loops on the highway, but it's still scenic and still challenging.  I chose CdA because I'm strong on the bike and run, and I knew that a hillier bike course would be give me an advantage over my competitors.  I worried when they changed the bike course that I would lose that advantage.  I didn't; it was still plenty difficult.    

Shameless plug: I put my race report on my blog.  Check it out.  

I was swimming there 3 days after the race and did about 2200 yards. Not too cold nor too hot that day.  Now the day of the race this last year, it got cold and windy right at the start of the race. I was one of the wetsuit peelers and there were quite a few people that were very cold coming out of the water. There were also people who didn't make it past the swim yet weren't cold out of the water. I believe the temp was 56-58 at the start of the race.

I'll be updating over this next year when it is closer to the race since I live in Spokane and will be able to get out there to practice in the lake.

i agree as i stayed there myself and the hosts are great.  

For those of you wanting lodging, try Liberty Lake, Spokane Valley, and even just like downtown Spokane. Sure it is 40-50 minute drive but when you think about being up at 4 in the morning to eat, hydrate, shower, do whatever you do can't you do some of that while driving?  

I live in Spokane and will be sleeping at my house and driving over there in the morning for the race. I did a sprint this summer that started at 7 over in CDA and it didn't bother me at all getting up at 4 am and driving that hour to get there.  

So just something to think about when trying to find a place to stay. You might even look up around Sandpoint since that is a nice area to stay in and the lake up that way is cold too.